Question

What is the relationship between “loudness” and “sound intensity”?

Answer 1

Hint: Sound intensity can be defined as the amount of sound energy that passes through a unit area per second while loudness is dependent on the response of human ears to a particular sound and can be defined by the amplitude of the sound wave that falls on the eardrum.

Complete step-by-step answer:
The loudness of sound is directly related with the sound intensity of the sound wave. The intensity of sound is independent of its frequency and depends on the amplitude of the sound wave. Let us consider an example to understand their relationship more clearly. Suppose you are listening to a song from a speaker. If the volume of the song is increased which means that the energy of the sound wave increases, thus the sound intensity also increases and eventually the loudness of the sound increases. But if the volume is decreased then it means that the energy of the sound waves is decreased which decreases the sound intensity and eventually decreases the loudness of the sound. However, loudness of sound depends on the sensitivity of the ear. One person might find a particular sound to be loud while others wouldn’t.

Note: We must remember that there are some differences between loudness and sound intensity. They both have different units of measurement. Loudness which is a subjective quantity is measured in decibels while sound intensity which is an objective quantity is measured in watt per meter square. Also, loudness depends on the response of human ears while intensity has nothing to do with human ears.